For years I wanted to see the Penitentes again and to see what other slides were in that box. Mom was sure that they were still in the house since she had a letter where she asked Grandma what things she left behind when she moved to Kansas that she wanted. The slides were listed but Grandma indicated that she didn't want them. Dad said that whenever we found them that I could have them.
For years we searched everywhere but couldn't find them.
Then the Crapture happened. My sisters cleared out the 50-some years' accumulation of stuff under Mom's house. The box of slides was found in a box in a box in a crate. Mom was so thrilled that they'd been found that she called me at work to give the the news.
I happened to have a week that didn't have any events planned and work was in a transitional period so I had the opportunity to travel to Los Alamos and help Mom move more stuff from the old family estate to her new home. And to relive the mythical glass slides.
There were only two slides of Penitentes. One slide showing the Penitentes is basically a halftone picture postcard. Its detail is lost in all the dots that make up the image.
The other is a picture of a morada, the building the Penitentes conduct their business.
I had thought that there had been a series of pictures showing more of the Crucifixion reenactment. I guess I got that impression because the box of slides held a fragment of a newspaper article (apparently from 1937) about the Penitentes' Holy Week activities.
Other slides in the box are:- scenes from around the world from The National Geographic Society
- other picture postcards published by Candelario Curio, Santa Fe
- holiday snapshots taken in 1934 in Frijoles and Taos including a picture of a woman with Indian children labeled "Penny" (our great aunt?)
- snapshots of Pecos ruins
- undated snapshots around Santa Fe
- snapshots of Wagon Mound dated 1910
- snapshots of Santa Fe and pueblos of Northern New Mexico dated in the early 1920s
4 comments:
Thanks for posting the images, Chuck. I, too, thought that there were a lot more pictures of the penitentes.
I hope that you will post the other images soon.
Thanks for those! Cool! I am looking forward to seeing more!
March 26 fell on a Friday in 1920, 1926, 1937, 1943, 1948, 1954, and 1965.
The Kansas City Star only archives on-line back to 1999, and the AP doesn't seem to go back very far either.
Good Friday fell/falls on March 26 in 1875, 1880, 1937, 1948, 2027, 2032, and 2100. So that means the story probably came from 1937.
I need to get busy scanning.
You guys are amazing sleuths. I was wondering how you came up with the date. Nice that someone left the clipping in the box. Penitentes don't like people watching their ceremony or taking pictures of it. Those slides are indeed a rare documentation of their ceremony. Thanks for sharing!
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